Linden Labs pays me...

...something like $24US per year to use their interactive service. I just realized this last night. What a peculiar thing.

Hahaha... LOL... Cross, I positively smiled when you said "What a peculiar thing."

Peculiar indeed... the Lindens have been far more personable and friendly -- and generous to me, for that matter -- than the people forming up most tech companies in this day and age, let alone the broadening category of "MMORPGS".

I had a good talk with Sabin Linden the other day... great guy, great personality, very enthused about marketing SL. He emphasized the wonder of the $10 Basic account which is, for all intents and purposes, supposed to be one-time and lifetime. I agreed heartily.

Sabin, if you're reading this: KEEP THE TECHNOFAITH STRONG!

And the strong the L$ dollar, the more your income grows.

*giggle* I got Torley smilin'!

<gush>We love you, Lindens! *a billion hugs... +1* And you too, Torley! </gush>

Unlike that capitalist pig, Alby *giggle* I keep accidentally giving all my L$ away to n00bs. I'm never gonna get rich like this...

I mean 'capitalist pig' in the nicest possible way, of course!

As any Canadian can tell you, a strong dollar can be good and bad. Certainly, it is bad for the consumer of linden dollars. Again, the community is divided here on the issue of if one pays or is paid from being in sl: if it is your second job or your second life. I am hoping to make it a little of both for me. but I recognize that prices are NOT going down in world, which means that I spend more time on services and less time on events in order to keep from being one of those unfortunates who buy L$.

Incidentally: any advertisers want to put a spiel or a landmark on our Sizzlin Sceners Program? (handed out to each attendee so that they know the scenarios before they start and as a way of collecting a cover charge). If so, Contact Cherry Took in game.

Two possible reasons I can think of for that off the top of my head:

1. vendors have not responded to slower sales yet... unlike RL where there are millions of sellers of each particular product, here there may be more "market lag". Even in RL, where people are endlessly analysing monetary/financial trends, price deflation/inflation lags pretty far behind monetary deflation/inflation. A lot of sellers, not knowing any better, or out of placing pride or (most likely)convenience over wealth, might keep their prices high even though they are selling less. Eventually this gap will induce competitors into the market and then prices will surely drop.

2. (related) There was previously a very soft market on goods (probably due to low marginal cost of goods), and the prices are still below real market clearing prices.

LL pays me, as a premium quarterly, $68 per year to do SL.
My land tier costs $180 per year. So I pay $9.33 per month, all told, to have 2560 m2 of my own land in SL. If I tiered down to 512m2, LL would be losing money on me.